+1 A volunteer organization is only as strong as its volunteers' perceptions of the organization, and strong interpersonal relationships help to facilitate a better perception. There are obvious ways to keep perception positive (limit negative and toxic interactions; provide positive and constructive feedback for work; enforce a code of conduct), but building strong interpersonal relationships goes a long way. Morale will be higher, bonds will be formed, and as a bonus, volunteers will be more likely to stay active and participate in important ASF conversations.
An informal social group is fairly easy to form, since there would be no skill requirements or experience needed to participate. We could simply send out invitations to join this group. We could then appoint a leader/administrator that can organize social gatherings (both in-person and via zoom or other platform) and help to ensure that members of this group feel welcome and are having a positive experience. I know that one criticism of this idea will be the cost of physical gatherings. Consider this: the vast majority of successful volunteer organizations recognize the importance of the volunteer's experience, as well as their perception of the community. As mentioned by Paris Pittman at FOSDEM, 80% of projects fail due to contributor turnover. This issue is fixed by community engagement and management. If even one informal, physical social gathering a year is helpful to the volunteers' perception and morale, then it's absolutely worth the cost. Volunteers will be more active, and more work will subsequently be done at a faster rate. Bonus points for the ASF being viewed in a more positive light by participating volunteers. Remember, it's community over code. There should also be working groups associated with specific skill sets or special interests, such as coders, community builders, writers, photographers, and other such skill-related groups. Non-code contributor groups are essential, as there's more to the ASF than just the written code. Getting these groups off the ground may feel overwhelming, but it's easier if you take it one step at a time. Start by sending out a survey to all active volunteers, asking them what they perceive their skill sets to be, as well as any talents they have outside of their roles as volunteers. Once you receive the data from these surveys, use it to determine which working groups to form. Send out invitations to the volunteers that will benefit/fit with the groups. Then, for each separate group, appoint an active member to administrate and lead the group, preferably an active volunteer/member that can provide a positive and welcoming atmosphere. Once the groups are formed, it will be so much easier to find volunteers with specific skills sets. For example, the website needs work, right? You can't just say "fix the website" and expect it to get done. I can write anything you need for a website, but I can't generate the code needed to make it work, nor can I provide graphics or photos. If these working groups exist, it'll be so much easier to create a "fix the website" project, appoint a writer, coder, and graphic designer for the project. You don't have to wait for someone to say "hey, I can do that." You can simply appeal to the WG, split the work based on skill sets, and provide direction for the project. The vast majority of volunteers will thrive so much more with direction, and volunteers will feel more passionate about the project. Their skills are being recognized, and they're being given projects to exercise and show off those skills. I'd be happy to help form and facilitate this social working group, as well as other working groups. My skill sets are mostly in writing, editing, teaching, planning and organizing, and maintaining positive morale within a community. With the help of a long-term member, I can create the surveys I mentioned, sift through the data, and help to create the working groups. --MJ Foulks On Fri, Feb 9, 2024 at 8:54 AM Rich Bowen <rbo...@rcbowen.com> wrote: > I’ve added an initial description here: > https://svn.apache.org/repos/asf/comdev/community/wg-social/README.md > > And copied below for convenience. > > Part of building community is facilitating in-person (or maybe virtual?) > gatherings where contributors can share life as humans. Our communities > work a lot better when we view one another as humans, and not merely words > in email messages and pull requests. Over the years, we have become > increasingly fragmented, for lots of very logical reasons. Let’s see what > we can do to chip away at that a little bit, and reclaim some of our > cross-project bonds. > > > # Social Workgroup (Proposed) > > To facilitate social gatherings wherever Apache contributors may be > present. > > ## Who > > Any Apache contributor may be a wg-social member. It's helpful if you > either travel to in-person events, or live in a place where Apache > contributors may gather, such as a large city, or a popular conference > destination. > > ## What > > Arrange social gathering of Apache contributors. The exact parameters of > this are left up to the members of this WG, but intial suggestions might > be: > > * Simply notifying attendees that other Apache contributors might be in > the same location at the same time. > * Arranging a specific time/place for a gathering, whether for a meal, > drinks, or informal gathering. > * Working with a sponsor to facilitate an actual sponsored event, and > inviting Apache contributors to that event. > * Resurrect the pa...@apache.org mailing list to coordinate, and > promote, these events. > > ## Why > > Building strong communities is easier in person. Facilitating informal > non-technical gatherings of Apache contributors, especially across > projects, builds strong bonds within the Foundation, and contributes to > important conversations that affect all of us. > > ## Values > > * You will never spam the membership, or the projects, with excessive > communication about gatherings. There's probably a lot of leeway to > interpret this, but everyone knows spam when they see it. > * This is not a mechanism for companies to circumvent our trademark > policies. Work with trademarks@ to ensure that you're not stepping on > toes here. > * This is an unfunded, volunteer effort. You don't have access to ComDev > budget for this, except with regard to foundation swag (stickers, for > example) that ComDev chooses to provide. > > > — > Rich Bowen > rbo...@rcbowen.com > > > > >
